Indians Uniform Number - 4 Jim Hegan

I narrowed the field down to four players (weirdly, they each had last names beginning with "H" - Heath, Hegan, Hodapp, and Hale) before making my final pick. Each of these guys exhibited reasons to be chosen, but Hegan's longevity (14 seasons), his All-Star appearances (5), his two World Series showings, and his amazing defensive (and offensive for that matter) skills sent him to the top. So, my choice for all-time Indians Uniform #4 is Jim Hegan!
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Indians Uniform Number - 4 (Part 3 of 3)

Evidently, my eyes played tricks on me when I set out to break up the Uniform #4 list into three equal parts. You see, I originally counted 30 players who wore #4, but when all was said and done, there are 26 total. Regardless of the total, I present to you the final six Indians players to sport the Number 4 on their jerseys. I'll post my final selection after the Super Bowl:

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Mark Carreon - part of 1 season (1996) - Carreon only played in 38 games with the Tribe, batting 142 times, and grabbing a career-high .342 average. He was one of the rare folks who batted right-handed but threw left-handed. He was named in the 2007 Mitchell Report as having taken performance-enhancing drugs.

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Norm Schlueter - 1 season (1944) - Norm played for Cleveland after being out of the majors since 1939, and it showed. His at-bats and his season batting average were nearly the same number - 122 at-bats with an avg of .123. In those 122 appearances at the plate, he had 2 runs, 15 hits, and 11 RBIs.

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Odell Hale - 9 seasons (1931, 1933-1940) - "Bad News" Hale had 4 seasons in which he batted better than .300 and three others in which he batted higher than .275. He was given the name "Bad News" by the pitchers that had to throw against him. In 1934 and '35, he hit 101 RBIs each season. I found it ironic/funny that in 1934, he had even more errors than RBIs (107 errors!), but at the same time, managed to rack up 480 assists. Talk about a guy all over the place. Another interesting tidbit comes from baseballlibrary.com, which reports that in 1935, Boston's Joe Cronin hit a bases-loaded line drive that went straight for Hale's head, which deflected off the noggin to the shortstop (who caught the ball still in the air) who then relayed the ball to second base and then the ball was sent to first for a triple play! I can't resist: Now, that's what I call having a head for baseball! He is buried in El Dorado, Arkansas, which is about an hour and a half from where I live.

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Remy Hermoso - 1 season (1974) - Hermoso spent four years away from the MLB after leaving the Expos in 1970. The image is from the 1972 Venezuelan league (winter league?). In 1974, the Tribe brought him back to the majors and then let him go after 122 at-bats. He had 15 runs, 27 hits with 5 RBIs. He left the Indians with a .221 average and then went on to coach in the Venezuelan leagues (you can find cards from his coaching days on eBay).

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Rick Cerone - 2 seasons (1975-76) - Even though he only played with the Tribe for two seasons, Cerone was one of my favorite players as a kid. Looking at his stats, it's a wonder I even knew who he was. He only batted in a total of 14 games. And, as many of you may know, in the 70's, we didn't have any kind of satellite or cable channel to show us every Tribe game. My grandparents (who lived in Cleveland and sparked my love for the Tribe) never watched a game on their television that I can remember. Funny how the world seems so different as a kid. In any case, Cerone came into the majors at the same time as the great Dale Murphy. Cerone had a total 28 at-bats in a Tribe uniform, had 5 total hits for 1 RBI. His rookie season average of .250 fell to .125 the next year, and the Indians sent him to the Blue Jays.

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Tommie Agee - 3 seasons (1962-'64) - Topps did not see Agee card-worthy until 1965, even though he started three years earlier. Of course, that could be due to the fact that Agee played in a whopping 5 games his first year, and in 13 each his second two. As far as the Tribe goes, Agee was a bust. In his three seasons with the Tribe, he netted 9 total hits, 3 total runs, one double and one home run.

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Tony Bernazard - 3+ seasons (1984- part of 1987) - In his first year with the Tribe, Tony tied a record. Unfortunately, it was for the longest hitless streak by a non-pitcher (0 for 44, ouch!). His average dipped to .221, but the Indians stuck by and watched him hit .274 then .301 (his career high). In '87, his average dropped back down to .239 before the Tribe let him go to the A's. In 1986 (his peak season), he had 88 runs, 169 hits, 28 doubles, 3 triples, and 11 homers. In his 562 at-bats that year, he struck out 77 times.

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Indians Uniform Number - 4 (Part 2 of 3)

Today, I (FINALLY!) present Part 2 of the players who sported uniform #4 during their Indians career:

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Jack Conway - 3 seasons (1941, '46-'47) - Like many other players of the time, Conway joined the service and then returned home to play ball. In '41, he played in two games and batted twice. He managed a hit and an RBI, netting him a .500 for his very brief appearance in the bigs. In 1946, he returned to bat in 68 games. In 258 appearances at the plate, he ended the season with a .225 average (58 hits, 24 runs, 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 18 RBIs). The next year, he only managed a .180 in 34 games.

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Jeff Heath - 10 seasons (1936-1944) - Heath posted better than .300 seasons in half his years as a Triber and three seasons with .270+ averages. In his first two seasons, he only batted in 32 games total (102 at-bats - 14 runs, 28 hits, 4 doubles, 7 triples, 1 homer and 16 RBIs with 13 strike outs). He played in both the 1941 and 1943 All-Star games, though he didn't get any hits in those games. He was also chosen for the 1945 All-Star game, but it had been cancelled. In his Indians career, he racked up 3489 at-bats, 546 runs, 194 doubles, 83 triples, 122 homers, and 619 RBIs. In his 1st full season (1938), he led the league with 18 triples and was 2nd overall with a .343 average (his career high) behind Jimmie Foxx, giving him a chance to be all-time uniform #4 - we'll just have to wait and see.

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Jim Devlin - 1 season (1944) - Amazing as it may seem, there have been THREE Jim Devlins in baseball. This one is not the one from the Louisville Grays game-sabotaging scandal. Alas, this Devlin appeared in only one game for one at-bat, ending his MLB career with the all-too-familiar .000 average.

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Jim Hegan - 14 seasons (1941-42, 46-57) - Hegan came to the Tribe in 1941 as the back-up catcher and managed to hit his career high avg 319 (in 16 games, 47 at-bats). The next year, he dropped to .194, and then headed for military service. He came back in '46 and stayed for 11 more seasons, making five all-star appearances ('47, '49, '50, '51, '52) and was a member of the '48 World Series-winning team and the '54 WS-losing team. In '48, he only missed 10 games and the next year, he only missed TWO days of the season (batting 248 and 224, respectively). One site I found (thediamondangle.com), tells that Hegan caught for six Indians pitchers that turned in a total of 18 twenty-win seasons. That says a lot about a catcher's ability. He helped the Tribe win 111 games in '54 (an all-time AL record for the 154-game schedule). During his career with the Tribe, he caught three no-hitters ('47, '48, '51). Amazingly, except for his first season, he never hit over .250 throughout his career. Despite that, he had eight 40+ RBI seasons and nine seasons with fewer than 50 strikeouts. According to several sources, it was Hegan's incredible feats of catching pop-ups and controlling balls in the dirt that kept the fans on his side, no matter how bad his batting average looked. He's definitely in the running for all-time Triber uni #4.

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Joe Gordon - 4 seasons (1947-'50) - Gordon came to the Tribe from the Yankees and was elected to the AL All-star team three times during his time with the Indians ('47, '48,'49) and was with the team for the '48 World Series. Though this list is about all-time Tribers, I have got to point out the fact that Morgan played in 11 seasons as a pro, being elected to the AL All-stars NINE of those seasons, and appearing in SIX World Series seasons. This guy came to play. In 1948, he hit 32 home runs (an AL record until 2001) and 124 RBIs on 154 hits, netting him a .371 OBP and a .507 slugging percentage. Larry Doby referred to Gordon has his "first friend in white baseball." He is a true contender for all-time uni #4.

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Joe Morgan - 1 season (1961) - When I read that Joe Morgan had played for the Tribe, I was puzzled. Naturally, my mind immediately thought of the HOFer, even though I never recalled him playing for the Tribe. My gut was right. THIS Joe Morgan pre-dates the HOFer. He played in 4 games as an Indian. In 10 at-bats, he managed 2 hits, a base-on-balls, and 3 strikeouts. He left with a .200 average. Later in life, though, he managed the Red Sox to a 2nd place season.

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Joel Skinner - 3 seasons (1989-91) - Probably best known lately for holding Kenny Lofton at 3rd base during game 7 of the 2007 WS on what would have been an easy game-tying RBI for Lofton. The Tribe went on to lose by nine runs, thus sending "Tribe Time" into a black hole (hmm, was that a bit biased?). But, none of that has bearing on his playing, which is what the all-time uniform countdown is about, right (does the name Pete Rose come to mind here)? Skinner was yet another back-up catcher to Sandy Alomar (and Alan Allanson). During his three seasons as a Tribe player, his average went from .230 to .252 to .243. He hit 4 home runs over the span of his Tribe-time and only one triple and 28 doubles - better than some of the folks in the list, and worse than others.

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Johnny Hodapp - 7+ seasons (1925 - part of 1932) - His first name is actually Urban, which today would be a cool baseball name to have. He joined the Tribe in 1925, but didn't really begin to show his talents until two seasons later. In 1927, he got 73 hits in 79 games with 40 RBIs (for a .304 avg). He continued to improve and led the AL in 1930 with 225 hits and 51 doubles. He also smacked in 121 RBIs with 111 runs that year. In 1932, he played in only 7 games before being traded to the White Sox.

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JW Porter - 1 seasons (1958) - Image taken from baseball-almanac.com - Porter, probably better known from his Tigers days, only played in 40 games with the Tribe. In 85 at-bats, he scored 13 runs on 17 hits, bringing in 19 RBIs, but striking out 23 times. He left the Tribe with a .200 average. A bit of trivia: The J.W. initials do not stand for anything - they ARE his first name!

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Leo Cardenas - 1 season (1973) - I couldn't find Cardenas in a Tribe uni, but I found this image online and thought it was cool (you know what an oddball-nut I am!). Leonardo played in 72 games with the Indians and in 195 at-bats, got as many hits as he did strikeouts (42). He only scored 9 runs, but did manage to get 12 RBIs on those, for what it's worth. He was traded to the Rangers for Ken Suarez in '74.

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Indians Uniform Number - 4 (Part 1 of 3)

There are about 30 players who have worn the Number 4 jersey. Because the list is SO long, I decided to break it up into manageable chunks! Each post will feature approximately 10 players, some of whom you've seen before (yes, already we have 'repeat' performers). As I did with the #3 players, I will save my final decision until after all players have had a chance to grow on you (some like heroes, some more like a fungus).

So, without further delay, I present the first set of #4's:

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Bill Cissell - 2 seasons (1932-1933) - Cissell came to the Tribe after playing 5 seasons with the White Sox. He played in 131 games his first year, grabbing 78 runs, 173 hits, 35 doubles, six triples and six homers. He only struck out 25 times and scored 93 RBIs, netting him a 320 batting average. The next year, he played in 19 fewer games and his average fell to .230, though he still smacked in 6 homers and struck out only 29 times.

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Bill Knickerbocker - 4 seasons (1933-1936) - The name alone should garner this guy extra points! He came into the majors with Cleveland, batting .226 his first year. The next year, he batted a career-high .317 with 188 hits in 146 games. In 1935, he "fell" to .298 and then to .294 before the Tribe traded him off in 1937. In his last year as a Triber, he stood at the plate 618 times! 618 times and still managed to keep a .294!? (81 runs, 182 hits, 35 doubles, and 73 RBIs)

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Bill Sudakis - Part of 1 season (1975) - "Suds" (as he was called) basically sucked. It was not entirely his own fault, though. His talent was masked by the fact that he spent much of his MLB career battling knee problems. Honestly, it's a wonder he lasted 8 seasons in the majors. His biggest plus was that he could switch-hit and play at either in-field corner. He played 20 games for the Tribe and managed to scrape together a .196 average.

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Bob Nieman - Parts of two seasons (1961-1961) - In 1951, he broke into the majors by hitting his first two at-bats for home runs at Fenway park (the first MLB player to do so ever). 10 years later, he played in 39 games for the Indians, ringing up a .354 average (65 at-bats for 2 runs, 23 hits, 6 doubles, and 2 homers (10 total RBIs) while striking out only 4 times! Unfortunately, the next year, he played in only 2 games. Now, he only had one at-bat, but managed to snag an RBI *AND* strike out at the same time. I guess if you have to walk away with a .000 avg, it's nice to have an RBI to go with it...

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Brian Dorsett - 1 season (1987) - The Fleer card shown is from baseball-almanac.com. He only played in 5 games for the Indians (and only 163 games in his entire career). He had 11 at-bats, scoring 2 runs with 3 hits, a homer, 3 RBIs and 3 strikeouts. He left the Tribe batting .273, which we have seen is better than a bunch...

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David Bell - parts of 2 seasons (1995,1998) - For starters, he shares his name with two other "David Bells" - an alleged ghost of Bell House in Georgia, and former Triber David (better known as BUDDY) Bell. He began his MLB career with the Indians by stepping up to the plate twice and getting nowhere fast (goose-egg average). The Tribe traded him to the Cardinals, and in 1998, they picked him back up again. This time, he batted 340 times for 37 runs, 89 hits, 21 doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs. He scored 41 RBIs and struck out 54 times. The Tribe sent his .262 average to the Mariners later that season.

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Domingo Ramos - Part of 1 season (1988) - Ramos played in 22 games as a Triber. Despite pulling a .261 (which in the 80's was probably nothing short of a miracle for the Indians), he was released that same year.

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Gene Desautels - 4 seasons (1941-43, '45) - He served as backup catcher, but still batted in 60+ games from '41-'43. In 1944, he enlisted in the Marines and in July, 1945, he rejoined the Tribe, though he only played in 10 games that year. He managed a paltry .111 average in '45, which was way off from his previous .201, .247, and .205 (respectively).

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George Strickland - Appeared in our 'countdown' previously wearing the #3 uniform. For the sake of argument, his #4-wearing days produced his 2nd highest (.238) and second lowest (.167) averages in his career. That has nothing to do with the selection process for me, but I thought it was a neat tidbit I hadn't looked at before. For those of who may have slept a little since I posted his stats in the Uni-#3 segment, here are Strickland's Tribe stats: 7+ seasons (1952-1960) - Strickland's best seasonal average came in 1953 (.284) and the next year, he helped the Tribe get to the World Series. Not really a power hitter, he provided consistency during his career. He averaged 28 runs, 61 hits, and 2.75 homers per season with Cleveland. His long career with the Indians continued after he was released as he served as acting manager for an ailing Birdie Tebbetts.

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Houston Jimenez - Part of one season (1988) - He batted in only 9 games, going 1 for 21. At least his one hit was a home run. But with such disappointing output (we're talking a .048 avg here), the Tribe let him go. Of course, you would think the Tribe might have clued in to the fact that in the previous year, he went 0 for 6 in five games with the Pirates. Then again, this was the Tribe of the 80's... Ouch.

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